


Whumptober Day 11 - Stitches

by TexdoesHalo



Series: Whumptober - 2019 [11]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Hurt Jack, Hurt Rhys, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Rhys, Jack is a little shit as per usual, Jack is an asshole but also soft for Rhysie, Just trying to survey a new mining site and what happens?, M/M, Patching up each other, Personal Assistant Rhys (Borderlands), Poor boys got attacked by bandits, Protective Jack, Psychos. Psychos happen, Rhys fusses over Jack, Rhys is Handsome Jack's Personal Assistant, Rhys is pissy that Jack got hurt and didn't tell him, Stitches, Stranded, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019, Whumptober day 11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-09 15:48:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20997335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TexdoesHalo/pseuds/TexdoesHalo
Summary: They just wanted to check out a possible new mining site. Why did psychos have to show up? Why did they always get attacked by bandits?Why can't Jack and Rhys have things go right for once?





	Whumptober Day 11 - Stitches

“S-shit, Jack! Be gentle!”

Jack grumbled something under his breath when Rhys flinched away from his hands again. Every pass of the needle through his skin hurt like hell, especially when Jack _ pulled _to bring the edges of the cut together. 

“Hold still, cupcake. You’re only making this harder. _ Hehe tha- _”

“Say, _ that’s what she said _, and I WILL kick your ass, Jack.” Glaring over his shoulder at the older man, Rhys didn’t miss the way Jack rolled his eyes but thankfully refrained from saying the shitty line. 

_Stab, push through, pull together, repeat. Stab, push through, pull together, repeat. Stab, push thro-_

“Gah! Dammit, Jack!!” Rhys was sooooo ready to smack the man but Jack just went back to work, taking advantage of Rhys’ brief state of distraction. “Shut up, I’m almost done…. How the hell are you this much of a wimp anyway? You got that gigantic tattoo and you can’t handle one set of stitches?”

Tying the stitches off and cutting the excess, Jack sat back on his rocky seat as Rhys shifted away quickly, shaking flesh hand hovering over the new stitches in his side. “It’s different...a lot slower and we don’t have anything to numb it at all…”

The downcast look on Rhys’ face had Jack sighing and scooting closer, holding out the tools to him. “Well, you can get some payback now. A psycho’s handaxe caught my shoulder.”

Eyes flying wide, Rhys shot up and was immediately at Jack’s side, all fluttering hands and panicked rambling as he tore of Jack’s shirt to inspect the wound, “Jesus Christ, Jack! You’re only just _ now _telling me this?! What the hell what if you’d passed out from blood loss or something?! Goddammit I can’t fuckin-URGH YOU DRIVE ME INSANE!!!”

He couldn’t help it, Jack burst into laughter at how ridiculously fuming Rhys was. “Holy hell, kiddo. I’m fine, it was more of a graze than anything else you can calm down.” Cybernetic fingers cuffed his jaw, Jack grunting from the light blow, glowering up at Rhys, but the concerned man ignored him, focused on dealing with the now uncovered wound.

Jack was telling the truth, it wasn’t that _bad_ but still seemed like more than a little graze. Definitely deep enough to warrant stitches. Picking up the abandoned supplies, Rhys threw Jack a glare before stepping over to the fire, using his cybernetic hand to safely hold the needle in the flame.

“‘The hell are you doin’ kiddo?”

Rolling his eyes with a haughty scoff, Rhys stood back up and stalked over to Jack, the needle glowing white hot as he threaded the stitching wire through it. “I’m sanitizing it you idiot, this thing just went through me and you think I’m gonna jab it through you right after? That’s just asking for an infection!”

Jack opened his mouth, probably planning to throw some smartass remark back at Rhys, but he just shut it with an irritated grumble. 

_ Boom baby, score for Rhys. _

Sitting down perpendicular to Jack, Rhys used his slight height advantage, well, to his advantage. He held the needle in his cyber-hand to keep it as steady as possible, using his flesh one to pinch the edges of the gaping cut together, making it easier to thread the needle through both sides. 

He definitely did not pay attention to how close he was to Jack. Or to how warm his skin was, _ or _ the way his muscles would occasionally jump under Rhys’ hands. He _especially_ did not notice how Jack leaned into his touch, how his breathing seemed to get deeper and huskier the longer Rhys spent pressed up against him.

Thankfully, the stability of his metal arm, plus the precision of his Echo-Eye sped up the process immensely, not even 10 minutes had passed by the time he was done with the stitches. Leaning back, Rhys quickly suppressed the rising blush and replaced it with a proud smirk as he examined his work, “Done. Just be careful not to stretch too much. You better not rip your damn stitches.”

Shaking his head and muttering something about “Overconfident twinks.” Jack stood up to continue working on getting an Echo-call through to Hyperion, then paused. A mischievous look passed through his eyes and faster than the strike of a stalker he gave Rhys a quick peck on the lips, not forgetting to throw a “Thanks, pumpkin~” over his shoulder as he walked away.

Ohhhhh dammit, Rhys was definitely blushing like a schoolboy. Covering his mouth with one hand, he totally didn’t stumble to in his corner of the cave and slide down the wall, ears burning from a combo of embarrassment and flustered flattery. He tried his damndest to ignore Jack’s mocking laughs as the blush just got worse and worse, the man at one point saying he looked like, _ “a goddamn tomato!” _

Though, he did catch a more serious mumble about it being at least 3 days before they could get back to Helios. Looking up and catching the hungry gaze Jack threw his way, Rhys knew without a doubt it was going to be a _ longggggg _3 days.

**Author's Note:**

> *Rhys will remember that*
> 
> Kudos and comments make my heart clench with happiness. Or was that a heart attack? Oh god it's a heart atta-


End file.
